Just like riding a bike (or I sewed a Love Notions Rhapsody Blouse)

I actually cut out and finished a new top in a week. Yay me! I can't tell you the last time that happened. But before I get into the nitty gritty, let me tell you what NOT to do when you return to sewing after an extended absence.

1. Don't choose predominately black fabric, especially if using black thread. And really especially if you're over 40 and sewing sometimes at night.

2. Don't think you can outsmart shifty fabric when attempting to make/apply double-fold bias binding without reacquainting yourself with the process and the tools. Yes, I used spray sizing to stiffen it up. Yes, it was better. Yes, I still managed to bungle it in places. Thank heaven for Wonder Tape and glue sticks, and the Galloping Horse Rule. 

3. Don't try to move your ironing board with a hot iron standing up on it, or you'll end up with the iron wobbling and then crashing to floor with a horrible BANG! and multiple cracks and chips in the outer pieces. So far, it seems to still work OK but as soon as I saw the chips and cracks, I RAN to my computer/Amazon and ordered a new one, which arrived yesterday. I like this iron a lot so I'd rather have one waiting on stand-by instead of wishing I did. 
 

So, with that fun stuff out of the way, let's jump into it. 

I bought, downloaded, and printed this pattern at the office long before we even heard of a pandemic. (Remember those days?) And it sat. During that time, Love Notions updated their sizing and I downloaded and printed the update. And still it sat. Until my sewjo finally came back this month, after being AWOL for years. 

What also sat, and this is embarrassing to admit, was this fabric — on my dryer for years. Yes, at least 2 years. Right on top of my dryer. Somehow I thought that by seeing it on a regular basis, I would force myself to use it. Every time I saw it, I did think about sewing and my heart would flutter a little bit, but I just couldn't get myself to actually start anything. Until last week.

Here's the finished top, and like everyone else who's made it, I really like it. I still need to toss it into the laundry before I can wear it to remove all the Wonder Tape and glue left over from struggling with the bias binding. The fabric is a really nice crepe rayon from Blackbird Fabrics.

Rear view, where you can hopefully see I converted the back pleat to gathers. I just don't think an inverted back pleat is flattering to my backside. The gathers distribute the fabric better over my terrain in my opinion. Plus, it matches the gathers at the front extended yoke/shoulder seams.

Voila! Some of my wobbly binding stitching. Absolutely NO ONE is going to be inspecting my stitch distances, so I called it Good Enough.  

Another thing I changed/added, was edgestitching along the front "shoulder" seam and …

… along the back yoke seam. I think this just gives a more finished look and also holds down seam allowances underneath. 

I think the pattern is pretty good. I love, love that Love Notions' patterns are No Trim. You just print, lay out the pages, and tape or glue. So easy. So fast. 

The sizing seems to be accurate to my measurements. I used the full bust front piece and sized from 2X at the neck/chest/armholes gradually to 4x for my Pandemic hips. (How long can I blame the Pandemic for my butt?) The only other adjustment I did was to make a square shoulder adjustment at the front yoke and armholes. Oh, I also used the cap sleeve option but added an inch to its length but that was a preference thing, not a fit thing.

The instructions were good, but I changed the order/method of some things to my preference. Specifically, I did the binding before adding the sleeves and closing up the sideseams. And gritted my teeth the entire time. I did NOT use French seams and instead just serged the insides. (Let's not push this return to sewing thing too far.) And I already mentioned the added edgestitching.

I haven't knotted the tie ends yet. I need to decide if I like them this length or want them shorter. I didn't really pay attention to that when I tried on the final top and then just didn't want to strip down again. 

I bought a new table for my machines today and I have one more piece of fabric that has also been sitting on my dryer …

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Thank you to everyone who's still been checking this space and for leaving a comment last week. I'm really hoping to become a more regular blogger again. Lots of (mostly boring) stuff has happened in the last couple of years. I'm sure I'll be throwing in tidbits of all of that at some point.